Zelenskyy calls for a European air defense system as Russian strike
wounds 13 in Ukrainian city
[September 16, 2025]
By ILLIA NOVIKOV
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces bombarded the southern Ukrainian
city of Zaporizhzhia with rockets overnight, wounding 13 people,
including two children, officials said Tuesday, as President Volodymyr
Zelenskyy urged European leaders to make the continent safe by building
an ambitious air defense umbrella.
With the war grinding on since Russia’s full-scale invasion of its
neighbor more than 3˝ years ago, there has been no let-up in Russian
strikes on civilian areas of Ukraine and its army’s push on the roughly
1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line.
A peace settlement appears to be no closer despite months of U.S.-led
peace efforts. U.S. President Donald Trump’s ultimatums and deadlines
for Putin to engage with proposals to stop the fighting have passed
without obvious consequences.
Just over the past two weeks, Zelenskyy said on Telegram, Russia has
launched more than 3,500 drones, more than 2,500 powerful glide bombs
and almost 200 missiles at targets inside Ukraine.
Russian glide bombs, usually dropped by jets at high altitude and far
behind the front line, and drone swarms are a major challenge for
Ukrainian defenses. Glide bombs aren't very accurate, but they leave big
craters, and Ukraine has no effective countermeasure against them.
Russian drones also recently landed on Polish soil, prompting NATO to
beef up the alliance’s European air defenses as tensions with Moscow
mounted.
“Now is the time to implement the joint protection of our European skies
with a multilayered air defense system. All the technologies for this
are available,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram. “We need investments and
desire, we need strong actions and decisions from all our partners.”
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In this photo provided by the Zaporizhzhia regional military
administration on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, rescuers work on a site
of a house destroyed by a Russian strike on residential
neighbourhood in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. (Zaporizhzhia regional
military administration via AP)
In Zaporizhzhia, the Russian barrage struck more than 20 apartment
buildings, starting fires, regional head Ivan Fedorov said on
national television.
“We hadn’t yet recovered from enemy strikes on Aug. 30. We are
currently repairing those buildings, those windows, but now the
enemy has added more work for our municipal workers,” Fedorov said.
In response, Ukraine has developed its own long-range drones that
have hit deep inside Russia, damaging installations vital for
Russia’s war effort.
Recent strikes have included oil refineries, depots and terminals.
Russia remains the world’s second-largest oil exporter, but a
seasonal rise in demand and sustained Ukrainian drone strikes have
caused gasoline shortages in recent weeks.
Ukraine’s General Staff said Tuesday that the armed forces struck an
oil refinery in the Saratov region of western Russia during the
night. Explosions and a fire were reported at the facility, the
General Staff said on its Facebook page.
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